Let's Try Again
by saragillie
Summary: What went wrong in B&B's relationship? Can it be fixed?


**AN: Here's the story I promised in lieu of Voyeur updates. Thanks to redrider6612 for reading multiple drafts and helping me keep it simple.**

Special Agent Seeley Booth leaned against the doorframe of his partner's office. His gut twisted as he watched her walk toward him down the long hallway. The guy following a step behind her must be her latest date.

He wondered if she realized that the guys she had dated for the last two years had all been tall, well-muscled and brown haired, and if she'd appreciate the irony. As they neared he gave the man a once over. Nothing set off his protective instincts. He willed the tension to leave his shoulders.

Brennan stopped a few feet from him and made the introductions.

"Hi, Booth! I'd like you to meet Jason Sanson." Booth offered the other man his hand. "Jason, this is my partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth."

After the men had shaken hands, she said, "I need to pop into my office and grab my purse and coat. I'll be right back."

Stepping away from the door, Booth asked in a deliberately bland tone, "So, Jason, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm an accountant."

"Do you like it?"

He shrugged. "It alright, pays the bills."

She emerged from her office and shot her partner a look, a question in her eyes. He shrugged almost imperceptibly, telling her that Jason was safe. Boring and safe. The hapless guy would probably talk about work all evening and bore her to death. In fact, he hoped the evening would go down that way. His lips quirked into a half smile.

She turned to her date with a smile. "I'm ready to go now."

"It was nice to meet you, Agent Booth," Jason said.

Their voices carried back to him as he watched them leave.

"How long have you worked with him? From the way you two communicate it must have been a while."

"Eight years."

"And you've never…"

Knowing what was coming next, Booth winced.

"Oh, we dated for a few months, several years back, but it didn't work out."

After the first couple of times, he'd gotten used to overhearing that conversation. He pushed away the overwhelming memories. Given her poor track record in picking men and one very bad incident, they'd devised an unspoken system. She introduced the flavor of the week to him and then trusted his gut. If he gave the 'no' signal, a member of the team would interrupt with something urgent that only she could do. The poor guys never realized that they were being vetted by her whole family. She didn't like it, but had finally recognized the necessity of it as her star continued to rise.

He walked into her office and lowered himself into her chair. He took a deep breath, inhaling her lingering scent. His eyes slid shut, and for a moment, he allowed himself to indulge in the pleasant torture that he was the one taking her out.

'You can't go there again,' he lectured himself. 'You know it only leads to pain and frustration.'

Refocusing, he typed in her password and then accessed one of the FBI databases with his own credentials. He entered the guy's name and profession and sat back, waiting. He almost crowed in satisfaction as the results came back. His gut rarely let him down.

He might not have liked Jason, but the man didn't have so much as a speeding ticket to his name. If he had to take bets, Brennan would probably be returning home early, having unintentionally intimidated Jason with her intellect and accomplishments.

So several hours later, he pulled into his normal spot in her parking lot. Half an hour later, she exited a green sedan and headed to her apartment. She knew he was there. This too was a part of their ritual. Sometimes he'd go up afterward, but tonight he was tired. When her kitchen light came on and he was sure she was safe, he put his vehicle in drive.

The next morning he walked slowly through the lab. Maybe Bones would be too busy working on remains to tell him about her date, he thought hopefully. She tended to share everything with him. Most of the time that was good, but when it came to her dates… he really didn't want to know.

She wasn't in her office or on the platform. He turned toward Angela Montenegro's office with a grimace. The forensic artist and Brennan's best friend was probably pulling details out of Brennan with the finesse of a trained interrogator.

As he approached, the sound of their voices caused him to stop.

"I just can't seem to find someone who's interested in seeing me more than once or twice," his partner said.

"It's hard to find a good guy these days, and sometimes even when you find one, things just don't work out."

"I guess we both know that from experience. You and Hodgins, me and Booth."

"I know why things fell apart with Hodgins, but honestly, I've never understood what happened with the two of you."

"Things just… they didn't work."

"Maybe if you figure out what happened to you and Booth, you both could move on."

"What are you talking about?"

"Bren, the man hasn't had a date since you two broke up."

'How did she know that?' he wondered, beyond caring that he was eavesdropping.

"He must have. He's never felt comfortable sharing that aspect of his life with me, so I don't ask."

"Booth?" Hodgins voice almost made him jump out of his skin.

He moved into the doorway. Loudly and a bit too brightly, he announced, "We've got a case squints. Will it take you long to be ready to go, Bones?"

She rose immediately and headed toward her office. "Give me five minutes."

Between retrieving the remains and beginning the identification process, the day passed swiftly. Several times over dinner at the diner, Booth caught her eyeing him contemplatively. He took the last bite of his apple pie.

"We still have to finish the paperwork from the Mitner case. You wanna come to my place?" she asked.

"Sure. We might as well get that off our plate."

An hour later, they were ensconced in her living room, files open in front of them, drinks on the coffee table. But her repeated sidelong glances made it hard for him to concentrate. He doubted she was getting much done either.

With a soft sigh, he closed the file and put it aside. "You wanna tell me what's going on in your head?"

She looked up from her page. "Huh?"

"You've been glancing at me all night."

"Sorry, Booth. I don't know what came over me."

Three years ago he would have made a snarky comment about her being unable to keep her eyes off him, but those shut her down half the time and he didn't want that. He had a pretty good idea what was coming. He'd been waiting two years for this conversation.

She gazed at him a moment longer.

"Booth, what happened to us?"

"Lots of things have happened to us. Today we started a case and grabbed some dinner."

She waved a hand, dismissing his comment. "No, I mean 'what happened to _us_?' Why didn't we work out as a couple?"

"The timing was wrong."

She turned his statement over in her mind. "Why do you say that?"

"Your Dad had just died, shot by one of his former 'business associates.'"

"I know that, Booth." Her voice was sharp as the unwanted memories caused her a small stab of pain.

"And you needed comfort, someone to rely on. I was tired of waiting, but I think I wanted more than you were ready to give. Physically things were good, which is why we stayed together as long as we did. But everything else was… The timing was all wrong and it fell apart."

He'd never told her how hard the first few months had been. Normally, he simply disappeared out of his ex's lives. But she was his partner, and he'd promised to never leave her. The guilt had almost driven him back to gambling. He'd leaned heavily on Hank and his GA meetings and begged his ex, Rebecca, for extra time with his son, Parker.

Her voice broke into his thoughts. "That doesn't explain why we…"

He finished her sentence. "…occasionally satisfy our biological urges together?"

To his surprise, she shook her head. "No, it's different with us. And it doesn't explain the feelings I still have for you."

"I said the timing was wrong, not that we were wrong."

She searched his eyes. He let the mask fall away and emotion poured from them, showing her how he felt about her.

"And now?" Her tone was tentative, as if she was afraid of his answer. But she had been courageous enough to ask and he wasn't going to let this moment pass.

"I'm ready when you are." He held his breath.

Her answer was clear from her smile.

He stretched his hand towards her. "What do you say, Bones?"

Her reply was swift and decisive. She placed her hand in his. "Let's try again."

He moved to the couch and pulled her into his lap, settling her close to his heart. Her scent washed over him and the knot in his heart that had wound tighter every time she dated another guy loosened a bit. Knowing she would be in his arms every day, not just once in a while when they lost control, made him happier than he had been in years.


End file.
